Tayson Defas is a highly skilled Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite competitor who has a couple of secret weapons for staying focused during stressful tournament matches. He’ll meditate between games, sometimes even stepping away to sit on the floor. Also, he has a boyfriend, fellow fighting game player Sebastian “Sol”…

In addition to showing off upcoming video games, this week’s Tokyo Game Show is playing host to a number of fighting game tournaments. The first, Wednesday evening’s Rookie’s Caravan 2018, was capped off by a rookie’s emotional reaction to beating one of the community’s most accomplished competitors.

When two of Japan’s strongest Dragon Ball FighterZ players met in the finals bracket of the annual SoCal Regionals fighting game tournament last weekend, fans expected a close match. Instead, the eventual winner shocked audiences by scoring a rare perfect victory in the hectic anime game.

Sun-woong “LowHigh” Youn has been riding high since becoming Evo 2018’s Tekken 7 champion over the summer, and he entered last weekend’s tournament at The Mixup in Lyon, France as one of the favorites to win. As the event came to a close, however, he got eliminated handily by a local player.

In response to the recent mass shooting tragedy in Jacksonville, during which two Madden competitors were killed and 11 more were injured by a fellow player, the annual SoCal Regionals fighting game tournament will enforce additional security measures in an effort to protect attendees. The most glaring policy is the…

After Dominique “SonicFox” McLean placed third instead of his usual first in the Injustice 2 finals earlier this weekend at Evo 2018, his fans wondered if the multi-game phenom was slipping. His Injustice 2 skills had only wavered because he was focusing on Dragon Ball FighterZ, right? But then, during a DBFZ…

This year’s Evolution Championship Series is almost the same as last year: the Mandalay Bay Convention Center is still packed with countless setups, players reigniting friendships and rivalries, and clusters of attendees erupting into screams during exciting matches. But Evo 2018 has one glaring omission in its lineup…

Despite offering a unique take on 3D fighting focused on counters and holds, the Dead or Alive franchise has never quite taken off within the fighting game community. It has a small but dedicated fanbase, but the game also struggles with public perception as the genre’s “boobie fighter” (probably thanks to old but…

This weekend, the Evolution Championship Series returns to Las Vegas for its twentieth outing. This annual event is the biggest and most important fighting game tournament in the world, with over seven thousand attendees planning to brave the boiling Nevada desert and compete for their shot at eternal glory.

As with most competitive endeavors, major events with big names are given a lion’s share of the public’s attention. This tendency is reflected in Capcom’s official rankings for their Street Fighter V circuit, which only tracks results for the tournaments they deem notable. The fighting game community, however,…

Even as the fighting game community has expanded rapidly over the last decade, Community Effort Orlando’s professional wrestling aesthetics have made it a unique and memorable stop on the competitive circuit. The yearly event gives the community a chance to show off their creativity and individuality by allowing…

A world championship tour for Dragon Ball Fighter Z will see qualifying competitions in seven different countries, each with its own Dragon Ball as a prize. But what if one competitor wins all seven?

Beyond the Summit held its first traditional fighting game event this last weekend, inviting 16 Dragon Ball FighterZ players to Southern California for a four-day tournament. But even with competitors like Dominique “SonicFox” McLean, Goichi “GO1” Kishida, and Sho “Fenritti” Shoji in attendance, one surprising figure…

The biggest news in the Dragon Ball FighterZ world this weekend was Dominique “SonicFox” McLean finally defeating rival Goichi “GO1” Kishida, but the rest of Combo Breaker was pretty thrilling too. One tense standoff in particular served as a perfect example of a confusing fighting game concept known as ‘neutral.’

Street Fighter V pro Justin Wong placed first in the Canada Cup Master Series tournament with the new character Falke, described by some pros as “the worst character in the game.” The reason Wong can succeed with Falke is due to his expert defensive play, particularly when it comes to engaging in the back-and-forth…

Justin Wong is a legendary fighting game player, and he’s nearly unbeatable when given the chance to use an ultra-defensive character or system mechanic. This part of Wong’s skillset was on full display last weekend during the Canada Cup Master Series tournament in Calgary, where he won the stacked event using Falke,…

Cecilia D’Anastasio: So Nintendo invited a bunch of Super Smash Bros. pros to showcase Smash 5 at E3 this year! And among some of my favorites—Armada, Zero and Hungrybox—are exactly no women. I didn’t notice an outcry. Frankly, it was about as surprising as walking outside and noticing the sky, which was very much not…

The fighting game community is currently exploring BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle via a beta test to uncover its secrets before the official May 31 release date. But as is often the case, this demo is limited to a handful of modes and doesn’t include a built-in place to practice solo, forcing players to use one…

A Pokkén Tournament event at SwitchFest in California crowdfunded travel for two internationally elite competitors, Tsubasa “CrossIgarashi” Igarashi of Japan and José Manuel “XAbsoluted“ Sanjuán Carreño of Spain. Curiously, it wasn’t just fans and spectators supporting these players, but also their direct competition.

Keeping his promise from two weeks ago, Dominique “SonicFox” McLean showed up to the Clutch 2018 fighting game tournament last weekend in a custom-made fursuit. Naturally, he continued to kick everyone’s asses.